Help You Thrive

Take a look around your office and plant next time you go for a walk to see how things are going.

Ever notice how many specialists you have working for you?

Each person you see is employed to accomplish a specific task for you – and your company.

You don’t have time to interview everyone who thinks yours would be a “neat company to work for”, so when the time comes to fill a vacant position you define as clearly as possible in your ad what you want this person to do for you. The people you see on your walk are those you have hired to help you meet specific market demands, the best available when you needed them, and you’re their leader.

You need to be out front of your company yet be in close communication with those you lead, or you’ll look back one day to discover no one’s following! Concepts and ideas are easily misunderstood, yet you and your company deal with them every day: in management, philosophy, service mentality, and in creative processes that enable you to move ahead. The demands of society in our “age of skepticism” (Herschell Gordon Lewis) make it necessary for us to truly communicate every time we transfer information from one person to another.

Communication is paramount!

How many companies hire writers? Media-based companies, of course; companies that advertise heavily, some others. Most don’t however. Your controller may be inclined to write “Sorry, not cost-effective” across your proposal for a full time, in-house writer.

But the truth remains: your use of words is important.

You must reach your customers with your message, so you contact ad agencies or media experts to help with ad campaigns. You want to say things right when it’s time to explain in-house changes and improvements, to express appreciation, so you keep a binder of model business letters and memos within reach for business correspondence, and you watch what you say in conversation.

How do you prepare to present something —a proposal, a new direction, an annual report— to your board of directors? If you’re like most you stay up late working on your presentation and tweaking your PowerPoint. You sweat it out over every word. You practice your presentation in front of peers of family members. You adjust your approach based on their suggestions but unless their specialists their perspectives are as subjective as your own.

Increase your confidence by calling for a writer’s expertise just like you’d call a mechanic, a specialist, to keep your car operating efficiently. Private mechanics aren’t the norm, however. For most of us they’re not cost-effective. The same would apply to writers. It makes more sense to call someone who writes all the time than to assign the writing to someone who was hired to do something other than write.

Maximize your time and energy.

As a good leader, you know where you are strong, and you know where you can use a little help. Perhaps that’s why you’re here. It makes good sense to call for a writer’s expertise when you need it, boosting your effectiveness while you focus on leading your company!